NASA On Asteroids: ‘If It’s Coming In 3 Weeks, Pray.’

GhostTheory’s newest staff member, Lindsay, has been busy with the social media side of the website. If you haven’t visited or ‘Liked’ us yet, pay her a visit at our Facebook page.

This week Lindsay posted an interesting article by EarthSky that talks about the potential catastrophic dangers that a wild asteroid could bring to earth. In a more ominous tone, NASA’s chief Charles Bolden gave us sound advice on what to do if a large space rocks was hurdling towards Earth: Pray!

We all saw the CCTV and amateur video of the small asteroid that plummeted down on Chelyabinks, Russia, on February 15th of this year. The rock blasted through our atmosphere and with a thundering force, destroyed modern buildings and injured 1,500 or more people. All that from a rock that measured 55 feet in diameter. Imagine one that reaches the size of a football field or bigger.

Given the recent sequester and continuous breakdown of the economy, NASA fears that in the very near future, Earth and all its inhabitants could perish from a cosmic threat. Read this.

Reuters) – NASA chief Charles Bolden has advice on how to handle a large asteroid headed toward New York City: Pray.

That’s about all the United States – or anyone for that matter – could do at this point about unknown asteroids and meteors that may be on a collision course with Earth, Bolden told lawmakers at a U.S. House of Representatives Science Committee hearing on Tuesday.

An asteroid estimated to be have been about 55 feet in diameter exploded on February 15 over Chelyabinsk, Russia, generating shock waves that shattered windows and damaged buildings. More than 1,500 people were injured.

Later that day, a larger, unrelated asteroid discovered last year passed about 17,200 miles from Earth, closer than the network of television and weather satellites that ring the planet.

The events “serve as evidence that we live in an active solar system with potentially hazardous objects passing through our neighborhood with surprising frequency,” said Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Texas Democrat.

“We were fortunate that the events of last month were simply an interesting coincidence rather than a catastrophe,” said Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican, who called the hearing to learn what is being done and how much money is needed to better protect the planet.

NASA has found and is tracking about 95 percent of the largest objects flying near Earth, those that are .62 miles or larger in diameter.

“An asteroid of that size, a kilometer or bigger, could plausibly end civilization,” White House science advisor John Holdren told legislators at the same hearing.

But only about 10 percent of an estimated 10,000 potential “city-killer” asteroids, those with a diameter of about 165 feet have been found, Holdren added.

On average, objects of that size are estimated to hit Earth about once every 1,000 years.

“From the information we have, we don’t know of an asteroid that will threaten the population of the United States,” Bolden said. “But if it’s coming in three weeks, pray.”

In addition to stepping up its monitoring efforts and building international partnerships, NASA is looking at developing technologies to divert an object that may be on a collision course with Earth.

“The odds of a near-Earth object strike causing massive casualties and destruction of infrastructure are very small, but the potential consequences of such an event are so large it makes sense to takes the risk seriously,” Holdren said.

About 66 million years ago, an object 6 miles in diameter is believed to have smashed into what is now the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, leading to the demise of the dinosaurs, as well as most plant and animal life on Earth.

The asteroid that exploded over Russia last month was the largest object to hit Earth’s atmosphere since the 1908 Tunguska event when an asteroid or comet exploded over Siberia, leveling 80 million trees over more than 830 square miles (2,150 sq km).

It is not even a question of could happen, it will happen. The only question is when? Maybe not in our lifetime, but Earth will be struck by a large meteor, or potentially a comet. There is ample evidence of it happening in the past, Shumacher/Levy nine is evidence it still happens in our solar system. Jupiter and the other Jovians attract many of them, our moon gets in the way of some of them, but there will be one that hits the bulls eye. There have been several recently that were close calls, and potential threats. They are not alone.

Valkyrie13

I used to think who cares if an asteroid comes, we have nukes and can
shoot them! But then I am pretty sure that all the nukes on this planet
wouldn’t make much of a difference with a really big rock. I’d like to
see a study of just how many nukes it would take to offset a 6 mile
diameter rock from it’s course. And for the record I’m against anything
nuclear. And I don’t think praying would work either.

Whoo hoo Lindsay! If I used facebook I’d be liking everything all over the
place. Maybe some day I will step into 2007 and join. But probably not
because their privacy is whack.

If you hit the rock soon enough it does not take much of a difference, very little really. The Earth is a moving target, traveling at 107,000 Km/hour. It only takes a nudge to slow an object down enough that it passes right by. And Facebook can’t share anything you don’t put there, if you just use it as a way to keep in touch with people it is fairly safe. Just don’t put any information on your profile you don’t care to share, and no photos you would not want to share.

Rick

I’m wondering what the effects would be for earth if the moon were to suffer a large impact say 1-2 kilometers in size?

Scott_McMan

To expand, Lindsay not only brought us this story, but she is very knowledgeable and heavily involved in this field of study and will soon be an Astronomy major in college.

You will often find Lindsay out at night searching the skies for comets and asteroids.

BW

NASA lost me when they started with the cutesy astronaut wake-ups that were designed to entertain vice inform.

Nice article, btw.

Cheers

BW

bgrnathan

ASTEROIDS, COMETS, AND
METEORS ORIGINATED FROM EARTH: In the Earth’s past there were powerful volcanic
explosions propelling millions of tons of earth soil and rock (now asteroids
and meteors which may contain organic molecules or organisms) into space. Read
my popular Internet article, ANY LIFE ON MARS CAME FROM EARTH. The article
explains how millions of tons of Earth soil may exist on Mars, and how debris
we call asteroids and meteors could have originated from Earth. According to a
Newsweek article of September 21, 1998, p. 12 that quotes a NASA
scientist, SEVEN MILLION tons of Earth soil may exist on Mars! How could this
be possible? Read and find out.

Even if the right chemicals exist, life cannot arise by chance. The
molecules that make-up life have to be in a sequence, just like the letters
found in a sentence. Please read my popular Internet articles listed below:

SCIENCE AND THE ORIGIN OF LIFE, NATURAL LIMITS OF EVOLUTION, HOW FORENSIC
SCIENCE REFUTES ATHEISM, WAR AMONG EVOLUTIONISTS (2nd Edition), DOES GOD
PARTICLE EXPLAIN UNIVERSE’S ORIGIN? ANY LIFE ON MARS CAME FROM EARTH, NO
HALF-EVOLVED DINOSAURS

Check out my most recent Internet articles and sites: THE SCIENCE
SUPPORTING CREATION and WAR AMONG EVOLUTIONISTS (2nd Edition)

Babu G. Ranganathan*

B.A. Bible/Biology

Author of popular Internet article, TRADITIONAL DOCTRINE OF HELL EVOLVED
FROM GREEK ROOTS

*I have given successful lectures (with question and answer period
afterwards) defending creation before evolutionist science faculty and students
at various colleges and universities. I’ve been privileged to be recognized in
the 24th edition of Marquis “Who’s Who in The East” for my writings
on religion and science.

ASTEROIDS,
COMETS, AND METEORS ORIGINATED FROM EARTH: In the Earth’s past there
were powerful volcanic explosions propelling millions of tons of earth
soil and rock (now asteroids and meteors which may contain organic
molecules or organisms) into space. Read my popular Internet article,
ANY LIFE ON MARS CAME FROM EARTH. The article explains how millions of
tons of Earth soil may exist on Mars, and how debris we call asteroids
and meteors could have originated from Earth. According to a Newsweek
article of September 21, 1998, p. 12 that quotes a NASA scientist,
SEVEN MILLION tons of Earth soil may exist on Mars! How could this be
possible? Read and find out.

Even
if the right chemicals exist, life cannot arise by chance. The
molecules that make-up life have to be in a sequence, just like the
letters found in a sentence. Please read my popular Internet articles
listed below:

SCIENCE
AND THE ORIGIN OF LIFE, NATURAL LIMITS OF EVOLUTION, HOW FORENSIC
SCIENCE REFUTES ATHEISM, WAR AMONG EVOLUTIONISTS (2nd Edition), DOES GOD
PARTICLE EXPLAIN UNIVERSE’S ORIGIN? ANY LIFE ON MARS CAME FROM EARTH,
NO HALF-EVOLVED DINOSAURS

Check out my most recent Internet articles and sites: THE SCIENCE SUPPORTING CREATION and WAR AMONG EVOLUTIONISTS (2nd Edition)

Babu G. Ranganathan*

B.A. Bible/Biology

Author of popular Internet article, TRADITIONAL DOCTRINE OF HELL EVOLVED FROM GREEK ROOTS

*I
have given successful lectures (with question and answer period
afterwards) defending creation before evolutionist science faculty and
students at various colleges and universities. I’ve been privileged to
be recognized in the 24th edition of Marquis “Who’s Who in The East” for
my writings on religion and science.